1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image extraction device, an image extraction method, a program, and a recording medium for automatically extracting an image with a high degree of importance for a user from an image group.
2. Description of the Related Art
As analyses of image content, techniques, such as face detection/expression detection, person recognition, scene detection (night scene, evening scene, sea, nature (green), and the like), and object detection (pets, food, flowers, train, car, and the like), are generally used. In addition, a technique of determining the relationship between persons based on the number of appearances of a person in an image group, the number of persons imaged in the same image, and a distance between the faces of persons is already known. As disclosed in JP2006-236216A, JP2006-79460A, JP2006-81021A, JP4490214B, and JP2014-174787A, an image with a high degree of importance for a user is automatically extracted from an image group using such techniques.
JP2006-236216A discloses a technique of recognizing a plurality of persons in a plurality of images, calculating a degree of intimacy between persons based on the recognition results, and determining that persons recognized as different persons are the same person in a case where the difference in the degree of intimacy between persons recognized as different persons is equal to or less than a reference value.
JP2006-79460A discloses a technique of recognizing a plurality of persons in a plurality of images, calculating a degree of intimacy between persons in the plurality of images based on the recognition results, and selecting an image, which includes a person having a degree of intimacy with a viewer equal to or greater than a reference value set in advance, from the plurality of images.
JP2006-81021A and JP4490214B disclose a technique of recognizing a plurality of persons in a plurality of images, calculating a degree of intimacy in an image, which is the degree of intimacy between persons in each image, based on the recognition results, calculating a degree of intimacy in an album, which is the degree of intimacy between persons in a plurality of images, based on the degree of intimacy in an image, and selecting an image, which includes a person having a degree of intimacy in an album with a viewer that is included in a range set in advance, from the plurality of images.
JP2014-174787A discloses a technique of extracting a face image from a number of images, dragging and dropping a face image of an important person into an important region, and dragging and dropping a face image of a person, who does not need to be included in an electronic album, into an exclusion region.